Populism as political mentality underlying conspiracy theories

Jan Willem van Prooijen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

This chapter seeks to explore understanding of the psychological and political roots of conspiracy theories by examining how belief in such theories is related with populism. It illustrates what populism is by defining the term and identifying its underlying psychological dimensions. The chapter examines how each of these dimensions predicts belief in conspiracy theories. It shows that populism is a key political mentality underlying conspiracy theories. The chapter describes some related but distinct factors that together provide a parsimonious model to predict whether citizens will support populist movements. It explores the relationship between populism and belief in conspiracy theories. The research literature supports such a link not only through findings that radical political ideologies in general predict belief in conspiracy theories but also through findings that more specifically address the underlying dimensions of populism. Popular media frequently portray “populism” within the same breath as “right-wing,” and, indeed, populism predominantly occurs among right-wing political movements in, for instance, the United States.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationBelief systems and the perception of reality
EditorsBastiaan Rutjens, Mark Brandt
Place of PublicationOxon
PublisherRoutledge
Pages81-96
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781351629089
ISBN (Print)9781315114903
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

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